U.S. Customs expands Global Entry to Germans. (Photo: Chris Hondros, Getty Images) WASHINGTON â Travelers from Germany will be able to join the Global Entry program for trusted travelers, Customs and Border Protection announced Friday.
In addition, Vietnam claims half a million children have been born with serious birth defects, while as many 2 million people are suffering from cancer or other illness caused by Agent Orange. In 2004, a group of Vietnamese citizens filed a class-action lawsuit against more than 30 chemical companies, including the same ones that settled with U.S. veterans in 1984.
Brief History of Agent Orange. 1  In the early years of WWII, a grant was provided by the National Research Council to develop a chemical to destroy rice crops in Japan (the major food source of the Japanese). 2  In 1961, President Kennedy signed two orders allowing Agent Orange to be used in Vietnam. One order to destroy crops, and another order to defoliate the jungle. [Note: These orders were signed prior to major U.S. intervention.] Agent Orange and other herbicides were used extensively through 1970 (and thereafter until the end of the Vietnam War). Vietnam Veterans and their families filed a class action suit against seven chemical companies (Dow Chemical, Monsanto, Uniroyal, Hercules, Diamond Shamrock, Thompson Chemical, and T.H. Agriculture).